The NFL on ESPN

Monday Night Football Doubleheader on Sept. 11: Saints-Vikings and Chargers-Broncos
Sam Ponder Debuts as New Host of Sunday NFL Countdown

ESPN’s Weekly NFL Programming Schedule
Photos of ESPN’s MNF and NFL Studio Programming
MNF Media Conference Call Transcript and Audio Replay

ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the 2017-18 NFL season will include Monday Night Football games – presented in English and Spanish; 20 original hours of NFL-themed studio programs each week; more than 20 NFL games on ESPN Radio; as well as extensive ESPN Digital and Print coverage; and NFL telecasts and studio shows distributed to more than 75 million homes in 61 countries/territories in Spanish-speaking Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean, Canada and Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Islands.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (48th season, 12th on ESPN) opens with a doubleheader on Sept. 11:

• At 6:55 p.m. ET, MNF’s play-by-play voice Sean McDonough (second MNF season) will call the New Orleans Saints-Minnesota Vikings game with analyst Jon Gruden (ninth season) and sideline reporter Lisa Salters (sixth season); then,
• At 10:15 p.m. ET, play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins will call the Los Angeles Chargers-Denver Broncos game with new Sunday NFL Countdown analyst Rex Ryan and reporter Sergio Dipp. Mowins will be the first woman ever to call a nationally-televised NFL game, and the first woman to call an NFL game since 1987.
• ESPN Deportes will continue to offer a weekly Spanish-language presentation of During the first nine weeks (10 games) of the season, the ESPN Deportes telecast will be simulcast on ESPN2.

SUNDAY NFL COUNTDOWN (10 a.m. ET, ESPN) debuts Sept. 10 at a new time and with a new team: Sam Ponder will host the recently-expanded three-hour pregame show with NFL analysts Matt Hasselbeck, Randy Moss and Charles Woodson, insiders Chris Mortensen, Louis Riddick and Adam Schefter and senior fantasy sports analyst Matthew Berry. (New ESPN NFL analyst Rex Ryan will join Countdown in week 2.) Show contributors include reporters Josina Anderson, Jeff Darlington, Dan Graziano, Sal Paolantonio and Dianna Russini, and feature reporter Jac Collinsworth.

FANTASY FOOTBALL NOW (Sundays at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN2) also debuts Sept. 10 with new host Lisa Kerney, Berry, NFL analyst Tim Hasselbeck, NFL reporter Field Yates and injury analyst Stephania Bell. Like Sunday NFL Countdown, Fantasy Football Now has expanded to a three-hour show this year as part of ESPN’s new Sunday morning fall programming lineup.

MONDAY NIGHT COUNTDOWN (6 p.m. ET*, ESPN) also premieres with a new look in 2017. Suzy Kolber will serve as the solo host of this pregame show, which originates weekly from the site of the MNF city. She’ll be joined by Hasselbeck, Moss, Woodson and Steve Young, and, from ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Conn.: Mortensen, Riddick, Schefter and Berry. The MNF announce team of McDonough, Gruden and Salters and NFL features reporter Michelle Beisner-Buck will also add to the show. Additionally, ESPN’s longtime NFL host Chris Berman will contribute weekly features in a special segment called “Boomer’s Vault” as an ode to the nearly half-century history of MNF. *On Sept. 11, the pregame show begins at 5 p.m. ET.

ESPN’s NFL STUDIO PROGRAMMING also includes:

• NFL Matchup (Sundays at 4 and 6:30 a.m. ET on ESPN) with Sal Paolantonio (his 16^th year as host) and new partners Riddick and analyst Greg Cosell of NFL Films;
• NFL PrimeTime (Mondays at 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) with host Trey Wingo, and NFL analysts Tim Hasselbeck and Jeff Saturday;
• NFL Live (Mondays at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN; Tue-Fri at 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) with Kolber, Wingo and Wendi Nix (who will rotate as host) and contributors Anderson, Tedy Bruschi, Ryan Clark, Darlington, Herm Edwards, Dan Graziano, Tim Hasselbeck, Bill Polian, Riddick, Russini, Schefter, Darren Woodson, Damien Woody, Yates, and Young; and
• The Fantasy Show with Matthew Berry (Mondays at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN; Tue-Fri at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2).

THE NFL ON SPORTSCENTER
SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt (midnight ET, ESPN) will debut a new Sunday night edition beginning Sept. 10. Every Sunday night following the last NFL game, Van Pelt will bring viewers a summary of the day’s games and stories and offer unique perspective. Van Pelt will interview some of the day’s biggest playmakers and Clark and Riddick will be regular contributors. Van Pelt will also provide a SportsCenter Right Now update during halftime of every MNF game – a fast-paced segment that brings fans up-to-date on the biggest sports news of the day.

Additionally, reporter Michele Steele will provide on-site coverage for SportsCenter from the site of each week’s MNF game.

ESPN Streaming
ESPN NFL programming such as Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, Monday Night Football, NFL Live and more will be streamed live on the ESPN App. Fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from affiliated providers can access content on computers, tablets, and – with the exception of MNF – on smartphones.

ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes will present live coverage of 17 regular season MNF games, a Wild Card playoff game and the Pro Bowl. For the 15th season, Alvaro Martín (play-by-play) and Super Bowl XXI champion Raul Allegre (analyst) will call the NFL on ESPN Deportes with reporter John Sutcliffe. For the first time, the ESPN Deportes Spanish-language telecast will be simulcast on ESPN2 in weeks 1-9. Presentations of MNF on ESPN Deportes and ESPN2 will be preceded by an NFL Esta Noche pregame at 8 p.m. ET with Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega and John Sutcliffe and followed by postgame SportsCenter coverage.

Spanish-language presentations of MNF, as well as Thanksgiving games and the Pro Bowl, will be live-streamed via the ESPN App and available on ESPN Deportes Radio with Kenneth Garay and Sebastian Martinez Christensen as the lead commentator team. Additionally, ESPNdeportes.com will present extensive coverage throughout the season, including exclusive online content for all 17 MNF games.

ESPN Fantasy Football
The No. 1 most popular fantasy football game, ESPN Fantasy Football is free to play and, across app, web, television and audio, offers fans the most comprehensive collection of expert analysis, news, tools and statistical information in the fantasy sports industry. Highlights:

• The ESPN Fantasy App, the No. 1 fantasy app on iOS and Android devices, makes playing ESPN Fantasy Football faster, more efficient and dependable for the 2017 season with better navigation to search for players, add free agents and share team moves and draft picks.
• ESPN.com provides fantasy football players with an unmatched depth and breadth of news, analysis and insights on fantasy football from the top roster of writers, analysts and media personalities. This includes the Fantasy Football Draft Kit, which analyzes and projects more than 500 players, with rankings and strategy content, as well as the 2017 editions of Matthew Berry’s Draft Day Manifesto and his Love/Hate column. Release.

ESPN Radio

• For the fifth year, ESPN Radio broadcasts out-of-market NFL games, beginning Sept. 10, with a doubleheader – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Redskins (12 p.m. ET) and Indianapolis Colts vs. Los Angeles Rams (4 p.m.). Commentators include play-by-play announcers Adam Amin and Marc Kestecher and analysts Bill Polian, Chris Canty, Herm Edwards, Brock Huard and Shaun O’Hara. Release.
• All ESPN Radio shows will welcome weekly guests to discuss the NFL, including Mike & Mike and the soon-to-debut Golic and Wingo, which will have a daily lineup of veteran football voices including appearances by Ryan Clark, Brian Billick, Adam Schefter and more.
• ESPN Radio kicked off a new fall football-themed weekend lineup on Sept. 2, highlighted by Field Yates hosting Operation Football, Fantasy Focus hosted by Dave Rothenberg, Eric Karabell and former NFL linebacker Bobby Carpenter with contributions from Stephania Bell, as well as the return of Jordan & Fitz with Jordan Rodgers and Jason Fitz. The Locker Room Show will continue, recapping the day in the NFL with former NFL players Kirk Morrison, D’Marco Farr, Geoff Schwartz and Barrett Jones.
• ESPNLA 710AM provides sports talk, local, breaking news and play-by-play coverage of the Los Angeles Rams.
• ESPN New York 98.7FM offers sports talk, news and play-by-play coverage of the New York Jets.

NFL Podcasts from ESPN Audio

• Now entering its 10th season, Fantasy Focus Football is hosted by Matthew Berry, Field Yates and Stephania Bell with contributions from Mike Clay and producer Daniel Dopp. It is produced daily throughout the football season. Short-form video clips from the show are available in both the ESPN App and the ESPN Fantasy App.
• For the 2017 season, ESPN Audio is launching a new weekday NFL podcast, The Nickel Package with five distinctly different episodes and hosts each day of the week:
• Monday: Hosted by Yates;
• Tuesday: Hosted by David Jacoby of ESPN Radio’s Jalen & Jacoby with ESPN newcomer Cian Fahey, who was born and raised in Ireland, where he still resides, and from where he will host this podcast;
• Wednesday: Hosted by Bill Barnwell, who will continue to also host the twice-weekly Bill Barnwell Show podcast;
• Thursday: Hosted by Mina Kimes and The Undefeated’s Domonique Foxworth; and
• Friday: Hosted by Mike Golic Jr., who will continue hosting First & Last with Robin Lundberg weekday mornings from 4-6 a.m. ET on ESPN Radio.
• Know Them From Adam enters its first NFL season, having launched earlier this year with ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. His conversations with the biggest names in and around football are posted on Wednesdays. In the first few months of his podcast, Schefter’s guests have included Jerry Jones, Terrell Owens, DeAngelo Williams, Chip Kelly, Michael Vick and Jim Irsay, among many other NFL newsmakers.

ESPN Digital
ESPN.com’s NFL coverage starts with an industry-leading group of 32 NFL Nation team reporters, which provides a 365-day stream of news, analysis, game coverage, predictions, interviews, fantasy insight, as well as photos, videos and social elements surrounding each NFL club, and is backed by the best national news-breakers and analysts in the industry. Details.

ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine’s 2017 NFL Preview Issue (on newsstands Sept. 8) is the ultimate insider’s guide to the new season. ESPN’s Mina Kimes goes one-on-one with Packers QB Aaron Rodgers for a rare glimpse into his thinking about fame, faith, athlete activism and where he prioritizes football. Also in the issue, David Fleming watches game film with Panthers coach Ron Rivera to explain the delicate task of re-engineering Carolina’s offense to maximize Cam Newton’s MVP talent, and Matt Bowen pins down fearsome safety Landon Collins on the quarterbacks he respects most, his Hall of Fame ambitions and the Giants’ plan to unseat Dak Prescott’s Cowboys. Also: Previews and season projections for all 32 teams, including each team’s secret Achilles heel, according to league executives. Release.

FiveThirtyEight.com
FiveThirtyEight.com will once again provide in-depth NFL coverage with statistical analysis and data visualization. Details.

ESPN International
ESPN will showcase more NFL programming in Spanish-speaking Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean, Canada and Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Islands than ever before. Details.

ESPN Social Media members and fans are invited to follow and engage with ESPN’s NFL team on Facebook (NFL on ESPN), Instagram (@espnnfl) and Twitter (@ESPNNFL). These accounts provide in-game updates, statistics, photos, videos, custom art, animated GIFs, commentator insights, links to Sunday NFL Countdown features, and more.ESPN Images Photos of ESPN NFL commentators, Monday Night Football games and network studio shows are available via the ESPN Images library. Follow ESPN Images on Instagram (@espn_images) and Twitter (@ESPNImages).ESPN MediaZone and ESPN Front Row ESPN’s NFL media kit on ESPN MediaZone contains NFL announcements, programming schedules, ratings releases, bios and more. Additional NFL content is available via the company’s corporate blog ESPN Front Row.

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